Health & WellnessS


Briefcase

Should Nursing Homes Be for Profit?

Is it right that people are trying to make money off taking care of our most vulnerable population?

In late 2007, the investment firm The Carlyle Group purchased one of the country's largest nursing home chains despite the concerns of regulators, lawmakers and workers' groups that the acquisition would lead to staffing cuts and cause a decline in quality of care for residents. The $6.3 billion purchase of Toledo, Ohio-based Manor Care Inc. closed after a Michigan judge lifted a restraining order that temporarily halted the sale.

"The problem is, in the nursing home industry, making money means cutting care," says Julie Eisenhardt, a spokeswoman for Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents employees at about 15 Manor Care homes and which spearheaded a campaign to raise awareness about the buyout.

In 2006, Manor Care, which operates more than 500 nursing, rehabilitation and assisted living facilities in 32 states, posted $167 million in profits and $3.6 billion in revenues. Manor Care shareholders were slated to get $67 for each share as part of the deal.

Heart - Black

Flashback Neurobiological basis of psychopathy

To understand a psychiatric disorder we need to know why the pathology causes the behavioural disturbance, the neural structures implicated in the pathology and the cause of the dysfunction in the neural structures. With regard to psychopathy, we have clear indications regarding why the pathology gives rise to the emotional and behavioural disturbance and important insights into the neural systems implicated in this pathology. What remains unclear is why these neural systems are dysfunctional.


Attention

Video: TV News Report On Water Fluoridation


Health

Lead Linked to Aging in Older Brains

New York - Could it be that the "natural" mental decline that afflicts many older people is related to how much lead they absorbed decades before?

That's the provocative idea emerging from some recent studies, part of a broader area of new research that suggests some pollutants can cause harm that shows up only years after someone is exposed.

Magnify

The Depressing Truth About Anti-Depressants

A paper published January 17 in a prestigious medical journal demonstrated in the starkest of terms how pharmaceutical companies tend to publish research that's favorable to their products and leave unfavorable results tucked away in their files. It's a problem that everyone outside the industry already recognizes, but the results of this most recent study should really set off alarms.

Heart

Future Chefs Learn How to Cut Trans Fat

Providence, Rhode Island - The movement to ban artery-clogging trans fats from food has a new venue: cooking schools.

The places that train the people who will someday be feeding the rest of us are cutting back or eliminating artificial trans fats from their classrooms, saying they have a responsibility to teach students how to cook healthy foods.

Health

US state wants to tax TVs, video games to fight fat, fund education

A Democratic lawmaker in New Mexico wants to tax televisions and video games to raise funds to fight childhood obesity and improve education in the state, officials said Friday.

"I have asked our legislative council service to prepare the "Leave No Child Inside" bill and am hopeful that it will be ready for me to introduce on Monday," educator-turned-lawmaker Gail Chasey told AFP.

"Leave No Child Inside" -- a play on the federal education initiative "No Child Left Behind" -- is backed by grassroots environmental group, the Sierra Club.

People

People not always needed to alleviate loneliness

Many try to identify with animals, gadgets, spiritual beliefs.

New research at the University of Chicago finds evidence for a clever way that people manage to alleviate the pain of loneliness: They create people in their surroundings to keep them company.

"Biological reproduction is not a very efficient way to alleviate one's loneliness, but you can make up people when you're motivated to do so," said Nicholas Epley, Assistant Professor of Behavioral Science at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business. "When people lack a sense of connection with other people, they are more likely to see their pets, gadgets or gods as human-like."

Social scientists call this tendency "anthropomorphism." As a research topic, the phenomenon carries important therapeutic and societal implications, Epley said. He and his co-authors will publish their findings on anthropomorphism in the February issue of the journal Psychological Science. Also contributing to the research were Scott Akalis of Harvard University and the University of Chicago's Adam Waytz and John Cacioppo.

Eye 1

Flashback Early Signs of Psychopathy: New Study of Toddlers Identifies Antecedents of Antisocial Behavior

Study published in August 2007 issue of The Journal of Abnormal Psychology indicates that some traits correlating to adult psychopathy may be present as early as age 3.

Eye 2

Flashback Twins Study Finds Genetic Cause For Psychopathy

Dr. Essi Viding of the London Kings College Institute of Psychiatry and colleagues have found the tendency toward psychopathic behavior has a strong genetic component. (same press release here)